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Another proud mama moment and again, I was not able to control my tears. As promised for his mother’s birthday today, my son brought home a medal from the Inter School Academic and Athletic League IT Challenge held at the AMA University just this morning. 23 schools joined the competition.

We have a new silver medal!

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My 10-year old pump gave up already, thus for two weeks I wasn’t able to express milk. So when we had second son’s eyes checked last Friday, I also went to the baby section of SM department store and bought a new breast pump. It took me weeks to look for a replacement since I seldom leave the house as 1) no one will be left to take care of our baby, and 2) leaving the house means bringing the little munchkin with me. As much as possible I do not want to bring him to crowded places – malls in particular – for risk of exposing him to many people and possible germs.

Anyway, going back to my breast pump story –

Though I very much enjoy breastfeeding my now two-month-old son, it would be convenient as well if we have some stored breast milk in the refrigerator. I could ask husband or any of the boys to give our baby a feed should I need to 1) attend to some household chores, 2) catch up on some me-time, or 3) run an outdoor errand. Having Yael’s own stock of milk also assures this mother that her baby drinks his milk even if she is not around. Also, pumping definitely lessens the heaviness of her breasts.

So for nursing moms like me, distance isn’t an issue in breastfeeding our little darlings. Our babies can still enjoy the benefits of breastfeeding despite our absence. Breast pumps are invented to help lactating mothers express and store milk for their little angels. These pumps also come in handy for moms who want to breastfeed but their babies cannot latch well.

There are a variety of breast pumps in the market nowadays. My old pump was battery operated and husband bought me an adaptor so I would not worry about battery replacement. The pump I just bought is a manual one as I find electric pumps too expensive. The important thing is, I own a reliable breast pump that I could readily use anytime anywhere. The good thing about the pump I bought is it has an adaptor which could easily fit both regular and wide-neck bottles.

Breast pumps are not for working moms alone. Even stay-at-home mothers may find these pumps helpful. I am a homemaker and seldom do I leave the house or leave our baby with someone else. But still, I got a breast pump because it gives me peace of mind knowing there are bottles of stored breast milk for my baby. I could ask husband or any of the boys to look after our Yael should I want to relax for a few minutes. I could also run an errand and leave the baby with them without me worrying about our little angel starving. Or I could offer it to my precious darling whenever my nipples are too sore for another breastfeeding session. Regular breastfeeding, coupled with expressing milk, also increases any mother’s milk supply. And I plan to breastfeed our baby as long as he wants. I am even contemplating on sharing my milk with my three other boys (without letting them know, of course; a naughty laugh follows).

We are experiencing power interruption today. Good thing we have a rechargeable lamp and fan. Our darling Yael could still enjoy his afternoon sleep without feeling uncomfortably hot and sticky.

So for moms out there, make sure to invest in good quality rechargeable lamp and fan. You may find it not useful everyday but time will come you will thank yourself for buying one. Your kids, especially your baby, will be grateful to you as well.

Firstborn needed damath for his Mathirx club about two weeks ago. Damath is a two-player educational board game combining the board game “Dama” (Filipino word for Checkers) and Mathematics. From research, I have learned that damath is used as a teaching tool for both elementary and high school mathematics. Every piece has a corresponding number and each even (white) square on board has a mathematical symbol. The game was invented by Jesus L. Huenda.

He gave his parents a seven-day lead time to look for damath in bookstores. This mother though can’t leave the house without her new-born with her, thus asked husband to buy one. Husband, however, failed to secure any board game for firstborn. Come fifth day and firstborn, realizing that there was still no damath, took the initiative to make his own board game. He reassured his mother that he can do it himself, making it clear to her that he just needs to cover the even squares with mathematical symbols.

As I watch firstborn design his own damath, I can’t help but cry. Cry not out of pity because we were not able to buy him one, but because he took charge. He did not even follow up with his father, perhaps he knew that his papa was so busy with work.

Thank you, firstborn, for being so understanding. And thank you for acting independently.

For my three boys and now, for Yael, I use cotton balls soaked in boiled water to clean their delicate parts after each nappy change. Sometimes, I use Cetaphil then wipe them again with cotton soaked in water. I seldom use baby wipes as most of them contain alcohol or perfume which may disturb the natural balance of the baby’s skin. Add to that of course is great savings as wipes are more expensive than cotton. For heavy poops, though, I let lukewarm water run over the penis, scrotum and butt cheeks. Then I gently rub the skin and apply Cetaphil.

Too much rubbing can damage the delicate surface layer of a baby’s skin so after each diaper change, I let Yael be nappy-free for a few seconds. Also, instead of using towel to pat his skin dry, I let natural air do the task.

When we did our grocery for this month, I picked the biggest absorbent cotton instead of those rolled ones. I want to know how much I could save if I roll the cottons myself. After all, I could roll a few for a minute or two before sleeping. I have learned that a 150 gram absorbent cotton priced at PhP 49.00 can produce around 400 cotton balls. A 300-piece cotton ball, on the other hand, costs between Php 65.00 to PhP 70.00. The ones I have rolled are thicker and bigger which can clean more in less rolls than those cotton balls in the market.
The savings I did for rolling my own cotton may be too minimal but then, I would prefer to do it again. It gives me another reason to stay beside my baby and sing to him than be glued on the television and before I knew it, I have watched the entire show and wasn’t able to sleep as my baby sleeps, too. The most frequent advice I get from my mother and husband: Sleep when the baby sleeps.

More than the savings though, I also find rolling cottons therapeutic. With the many household duties i need to do everyday, cotton rolling gives me the time to be at ease and just relax. It is a task that demands no time but requires the same motherly affection I give in everything I do. Yes, even rolling cottons demands motherly love. It’s the way I am and the way I serve my boys.

So again, for nanays who want to save even a little from their budget, use cotton instead of wet wipes.

These and more are the reasons that finally makes this mother to use cloth diaper all the way. Before with her three boys, she used cloth diaper on day time and disposable at night. Her lampin before was a birds-eye cloth she folded and used clasps. Now with her Yael, she learns that there is indeed a fashionable cloth diaper which can hold urine just like a disposable one. Also, she finds this fitted diaper very convenient as it is shaped like any disposable diaper. And instead of using pins, it has adjustable snaps to make it possible to fit any sized baby, from newborn to toddler.

So for now, this momi is saying good bye to disposable diapers and is very much addicted to cloth diapers.

By the way, for the fashion conscious moms, there are various designs that may go well with your style. And add to that the great potential to save money and Mother Earth. So why not give cloth-diapering a try.

To start with, you may check Thrifty Mama Shoppe at http://www.thriftymamashoppe.com/.

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We are not rich. There are a number of times that we prioritize what to pay first, even disregard those that can wait, and most often set aside our own needs just so to provide for the boys.

It’s only husband who works for the family while I am left at home to look after the three boys and now our new born baby. Aside from the daily cleaning and cooking, I am also in charge of the weekly marketing and helping the boys with their school works. Husband helps with the ironing of clothes. Getting the services of a house help will surely add up to our expenses, thus we do the cleaning ourselves. Even the boys share some household responsibilities. I know they would want to complain sometimes, wondering why they need to work at home while their classmates could play COC all day on weekends. But because they are courteous and responsible, they would rather keep to themselves their displeasure or perhaps, even resentment.

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Congratulations, Big Bunso!

A weakling named Greg Heffley narrates his struggles in middle school through his Diary of a Wimpy Kid. With already nine books in the series, and two additional books: a movie diary and a do-it-yourself, the Diary of a Wimpy Kid is my big Bunso’s first book collection. He started collecting Jeff Kinney’s works two years ago. He chanced upon the first among the series in our bookshelf. Since then, he has become interested in the life story of Greg. He would request for a new copy whenever he hears its release.

This semester, he became part of his school’s honors list. I completed his collection and bought the remaining four books. Now, he is a proud collector of all 11 Diary of a Wimpy Kid books. And just before sleeping, he would always read a few pages. He would even share his books with his two older brothers.